Mechanical boxer toy



Sept. 6, 1955 R. E. ARMSTRONG 2,716,340

MECHANICAL BOXER TOY Filed Sept. 50, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l 7 INVENTOB Spt. 6, 1955 R. E. ARMSTRONG 2,716,840

MECHANICAL BOXER TOY Filed Sept. so, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B 4 VMONDABMs TRO/VG United States Patent MECHANICAL BOXER TOY Raymond E.Armstrong, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application September 30, 1953,Serial No. 383,334

18 Claims, (Cl. 46-442) This invention relates to animated toy gameapparatus of the type wherein one or more persons are able to engage toyfigures in a competitive effort.

A popular animated toy figure game is that wherein the competitorsactuate toy figures in a miniature boxing ring, the figures beingmanipulated in a manner to simulate the weaving and punching tactics ofreal boxers.

Numerous examples of the prior art in this field have been provided forthe purpose noted but these, in all cases, lack facilities for theprovision of fully realistic action on the part of the toy figures.

' It is the object of the present invention to provide an animated toygame arrangement wherein means is pro vided for animating the toyplayers in a realistic manner.

Although not limited to use in such a sphere the teachings of theinvention will be elucidated by an application in the field of utilitywherein two animated toy boxers are manipulated, puppet fashion, so asto simulate a competition between two boxers.

According to my teachings, an animated toy figure arrangement of thetype indicated comprises a head member, a torsal frame, a support memberor beam, a mounting platform and a base, right and left flexibly jointedarm members hingedly jointed leg and thigh members, means for hingingthe head member for forward and backward motion thereof with respect tosaid torsal frame, means for hinging the torsal frame for forward andbackward angular movement thereof about the support beam, means forlatching the said torsal frame rigidly to the said support beam, meanssensitive to a backward movement of said head member for unlatching thetorsal frame from the said rigid relationship, a solar plexus plate,means for resiliently associating said plate with the said torsal frame,means sensitive to an inward excursion of said solar plexus plate forunlatching the torsal frame from its said rigid relationship with saidsupport beam, resilient means for urging said base toward said platformbut in such a manner that the base and support can be tilted over apredetermined range of angles about a vertical polar axis and can alsobe lowered along the said axis to a predetermined limit, manuallyoperable means for actuating said arm members and manually operablemeans for tilting and lowering said base.

' The latched body support (torsal frame) arrangement includesunlatching means whereby if the head or solar plexus of the figure isstruck with sufiicient force the toy figur hinged at its ,midriff, fallsbackward and goes out of control. Such an event may be established as apoint for the player whose blow caused the event and may by the ruleterminate a round or phase of a game. The toy figure must be re-set whenonce unlatched by a blow and this may be done by manually re-setting thetoy figure or one may attempt to cause it by chance to re-set itself bycausing a violent flaying of the arms and/or by causing the figure totip and weave against the playing surface or against ropes enclosing aring.

The tipping and weaving facility is provided by erecting the toy figuresupport upon a base which is spring loaded 2 7 l 6 ,84 0 C PatentedSept. 6, 1955 so that the support resides normally in a verticalposition but, by means of a handle attached to the spring loaded base,can be tilted forward, backward, or sideways within specified limits andwhich will return automatically to the vertical attitude as soon as aplayer relaxes the control of the handle.

In a further aspect an unique handle means for tilting the toy figureincludes facilities centralized upon the apparatus at a point beneaththe playing surface and further includes facilities centralized at thesame point for actuating the arm members of the figure.

In this way a player can cause the toy figure to perform all its anticsby moving certain fingers and muscles of one hand only. If desired, theplayer by using both hands one upon the controls of each of two toyfigures, can actuate both figures and by Providing suitableconcealmentin the way of drapes and/ or the like, can establish a boxingpuppet show. Alternatively two players may use the apparatus oneoperating each toy figure so as to play a boxing game.

These teachings will now be embodied in a preferred example ofconstruction described with reference to the accompanying drawingswhereof:

Figure 1 shows in perspective a miniature boxing ring of well-knownstyle including toy boxing figures animated in accordance with thepresent teachings,

Figure 2 presents a side elevation of the construction depicted inFigure 1,

Figure 3 is a view of one toy figure of Figure l or 2 somewhat enlargedand mostly section to show details of the construction,

Figure 4 is a section viewed from the rear or operating end of thearrangement,

Figure 5 discloses details of a mechanism,

Figure 6 shows details of the latching device whereby the figure isnormally held erect. This figure also shows means whereby the latch canbe released by a blow to the plexus of the figure, and

Figure 7 again shows the latch arrangement but now being released by ablow to the head of the figure.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 is the hinged head, 2 the torso and 3 ahinged solar plexus plate forming part of a toy figure which issupported by a main inner torsal frame 4 hinged at 5 to a support 6.

The latter is made integral with a figure base block 9. Legs 7, 8, 7, 8,arms 28, 29, 28', 29' and gloved fist 30, 30' complete the essentialmain parts of the toy figure as seen by an audience. Decorative partssuch as trunks 38 or the like may be added if desired.

The head 1 is hinged at 141 to the upper portion of the beam 4 andhinged to the head at 39 is a thrust rod 15 which co-operates with alatch lever 14. Said lever 14 is hinged at 16 to frame 4 and is normallyinclined with a. lower end provided with a latch roller 17 seated in anotch 18 formed in said support 6. The latch lever 14 includes anextension at pivot point 40 having a bumper face 31 lying close to theinner surface of solar plexus plate 3.

The solar plexus plate 3 includes an inwardly turned extension 42 whichabuts the rearward portion of latch lever 14.

Referring specifically to Figure 6 it will be observed that if theplexus plate 3 is struck a hard blow by glove 30" of the other animatedfigure the latch roller 17 will preferred arm actuating be knocked outofnotch 18 and the follow-through of the blow will cause the body part 2to swing about pivot 5 and fall backward until the roller 17 drops intonotch 19. The tension spring 32 will then allow further limited backwardyield of the body 2, which moves back while the head snaps back underthe pull of thrust rod 15. The notch 19 may be predetermined to allowthe body to fall into a reclining or similar attitude. The figure may bere-set manually by moving the body forward until roller 17 latches innotch 18 or it may be re-set in another way that will be describedlater. Depressible plate 3 is hinged at 3a or otherwise arranged toyield inwardly.

lf glove 30 strikes the head 1 a hard enough blow to overcome thetension of spring 32, the thrust rod 15 will be actuated by the snapback of the head and will shift latch lever 14 sutficiently to unlatchroller 17 from notch 18 causing the body 2 of the figure to fallbackwards about pivot 5 as previously described.

The tension of spring 32 and other parameters of the latch mechanism canreadily be varied so as to make the body 2 fall when the blows at thehead and plexus are of equal force, or they may readily be adjusted sothat a soft blow to the plexus will unlatch roller 17 while only a hardblow to the head will unlatch the roller 17. It will readily be seenthat by suitable adjustment of the length of the rearward extension of3, setting point of contact of extension 42 closer to the roller 17 orfarther from it, a wide variation of unlatching forces can be chosen andthese can be further defined by variations in tension of spring 32.

The latching of the body 2 in erect position is assisted by an abutmentmember 43, whose presence at the point shown simplifies the design,particularly that of the notch 18.

It will be evident that by suitably contouring the notch 18 at 41, itshold can be made weak enough in the backward direction so that a blow ofpredetermined force upon a firm portion of body 2 willeject the roller17 out of the notch 18 and unlatch the body so that it will fallbackward.

It will now be seen that the construction up to the point aboverecounted provides a toy boxing figure which has great versatility ofresponse to suitably directed blows and can be adjusted to responddiiferently to blows of differing intensity and to blowlands atdifferent areas or localities on the figure.

To provide still greater versatility in the figure action and to furtherenhance realism, the support block 6 is associated both slidably andresiliently with the playing surface 13. This feature is best seen inFigures 3 and 4.

The platform surface 13 is slotted along a centre line leavingtransverse narrow opening 44. At this opening a platform 12 is slidablysupported by guideways or runners 36, 37 so that it can slide back andforth in the channel like opening. The support bar 6 passes freelythrough a slot in the platform 12 and is rigidly attached to base 9. Thelatter is held normally in contact with the under side of the platformby tension springs 10, connected to said platform. Any plurality ofthese springs may be employed but inspection of Figure 1 will show thata plurality of 3 was chosen for this example, one at the front and twoat the rear of the assembly. The tension springs are made strong enoughto hold the block 9 firmly against the platform 12, but shouldpreferably be made as long as possible so that they exhibit a highdegree of flexibility for a reason that will be immediately evident.

The block 9 is fitted with a handle 11. This can be of any suitableshape or form that will enable manipulation of the block 9 to be had,but for reasons later to be men-- tioned is preferably made like aplatform or handrest extension of the block 9. By pressing downward onthis handle 11 the block 9 can be pulled vertically downward and this ineffect shortens the extent of projection of support bar 6 above theplatform surface 13. This causes the legs 7, 8, 7', 8' to flex abouttheir pivots and 46 and the figure appears to bend or sag at the knees.

By twisting the handle 11 the figure is made to sway from side to sidewithin the limits of freedom provided by aperture 44 and the freedomallowed to the support member 6 in plate 12. If the bar 6 has side playin the aperture through which it extends in the platform 12, the body 2of the figure can be rocked by the handle portion 11 of the block 9 inorder to represent weaving tactics in boxing.

If the figure is knocked over (unlatched), a skillful operator may beable to re-latch the figure by tipping the block 9 so as to draw themember 6 downward and at an acute angle with the supporting surface 13so as to bring the whole body assembly into a nearly recumbent postureon said supporting surface.

The figure at any attitude can also be moved forward or backward in thering in the slides 36, 37.

The arm members 28, 29 on one side and 28', 29' on the other side areactuated by a cable and lever system in each case. Arm 28 is pivoted at22 on the fulcrum of a lever having an arm 23 actuated at 33 by cable21. A jigger rod 24 is pivoted at 25 to the body 2 forwardly of the armpivot 22 and arranged alongside of the arm 28 with its lower end pivotedat 26 to the foisa-zagrm 29 adjacent to the pivot 27 of arm members 28an When cable 21 is tensed the arm first flexes and then rises andstraightens out sharply thus imitating very realistically a boxerspunch. The gloves 3t), 30' may be of rubber or other suitable materialand these bumpers are fitted to the handparts of the arms 29, 29'.

The cables 21, 21 are pulled down through the block 9 and are turned atand pass into a recess 47 in handle 11. The cables may terminate inrings 34 dimensioned to receive the finger tips of an operator. Manualoperation of the arms is effected by drawing backward on the rings. Inthis way the arms of the toy figure perform a vigorous and realisticpunch; and by relaxing the manual pulling force on the rings the armsfall back to the sides of the body 2 of the figure. The rings may berendered captive to the recess 47, as shown in Figure 4, by framing themloosely into the aperture so as to slide freely therein.

it will now be evident that the three features of the construction, thelatching body, the individually actuable arms and the tilting-slidingbase have all been brought n an unique manner to a single convenientcontrol point in the handle 11 so that by effecting slight selectivemovements of two fingers and by moving the whole hand from side to sideor up and down or by angular pressure upon the handle at one point oranother on its surface, an operator can cause the toy to kneel, rise,away, weave, punch differently with each arm and move forward orbackward in a very great variety of moves according to the will andskill of the operator.

Many minor variations from the described structure can be made by anyoneskilled in the art without departmg from the broad spirit of myteachings; all such modifications are to be regarded as lying within theambit of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An animated toy figure arrangement of the kind described comprising ahead member, a torsal frame, fiexurably jointed left and right armmembers, hinged leg and thigh members, a support beam, and a basetherefor, and a mounting platform supplied with a slot through whichsaid support beam loosely projects in upward direction with said baselocated below the platform, means for hinging the head member forforward and backward motion thereof with respect to said torsal frame,means for hinging the said torsal frame for forward and backwardmovement thereof with respect to said support beam, means for latchingthe said torsal frame rigidly to the support beam at a specifiedattitude of the frame, means sensitive to a backward movement of saidhead member for unlatching the torsal frame from the said rigid relationship, a solar plexus plate, means for resiliently associating saidplate with the said torsal frame, means sensitive to an inward excursionof said solar plexus plate for unlatching the torsal frame from its saidrigid relationship with said support beam, resilient means for urgingsaid base toward said platform in such a manner that the base andsupport beam can be tilted selectively over a predetermined range ofangles about a vertical polar axis and can also be lowered along thesaid axis to a predetermined limit, manually operable means foractuating said flexurably jointed arm members, and manually operablemeans for tilting and lowering said base.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for latchingthe torsal frame to the support beam comprises a latching lever pivotedupon the said torsal frame and having an arm, a latch roller on the endof said arm, and means characterising the upper portion of said supportbeam for receiving the said roller in nested relation to form a lock.

3. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the means sensitive to abackward movement of said head member for unlatching the torsal framecomprises a push rod hingedly connected at one end to said head member.in a position rearward of the head hinge and extending downwardly intothe said torsal frame.

4. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the means sensitive toinward excursion of said solar plexus plate comprises an extensionintegrally associated with said plate at one end and at its other endco-acting with said latching means to disable the latch when a saidinward excursion occurs.

5. A construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein the resilient meansfor urging said base toward the platform includes a plurality of highlyresilient coil springs disposed at selected points about the said base,each spring having one end connected to the said platform and its otherend connected under tension to a selected point on said base.

6. A construction as defined in claim 1 in which the right and left armmembers each comprise a pivot rotatable in the torsal frame, a main armfixed at its upper end to a said pivot, a forearm, means pivoting theupper end of said forearm to the lower end of said main arm, a leverfixed on said p'ivot, a jigger rod hinged at its upper end to saidtorsal frame and a side of said pivot, means for hinging the lower endof said jigger rod eccentric to the pivotal point on said forearm, andan arm-actuating cable having one end fixed to said lever and passingfreely down through the said base to project therefrom.

7. An animated toy game of the kind described comprising a figure havinga body, a support, said body being pivoted at its lower end on saidsupport to swing backwardly between an erect and a substantially toppledposition, means providing a latching slot on said support at a pointrearwardly of said pivotal connection of said body, a latching leverpivoted on said body above said pivotal connection, said lever beingnormally arranged to extend downwardly and rearwardly of said pivotalconnection of the body and having its lower end engaged with saidlatching slot to prop the body in erect position, and relativelyyieldable means on the body and arranged to disengage said lever underimpact for causing the body to topple rearwardly on its pivotalconnection.

8. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the latching lever ispressed toward the latching slot by a spring, and in which the lower endof said lever has a roller by which it is engaged in said latching slot.

9. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which an abutment stops thebody from swinging forwardly beyond an erectile attitude, and in whichthe lever is pressed by a spring into engagement with the latching slotand is received in a subjacent slot when disengaged and swung down withthe body in a toppling movement.

10. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the relativelyyieldable means on the body comprises a yieldable wall forming a part ofsaid body and having a mechanical connection with the lever to disengagethe same under impact.

11. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the yieldable meansfor disengaging the latching lever comprises a plate pivoted to the bodyand forming a part thereof, said plate having at its distal end a tripmember which is arranged to thrust the lever out of the latching slotwhen the plate recedes under impact.

12. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the yieldable meansfor disengaging the latching lever comprises a head pivoted on the bodyto topple backwardly, and in which said head is linked to the lever in amanner to impart a disengaging movement to it when the head is toppledby a blow.

13. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the relativelyyieldable means on the body includes a pivotally supported head, and athrust rod connection with the latching lever to effect disengagement ofsaid lever when a blow is delivered to said head.

14. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the support comprises avertically arranged bar, the upper end of which provides the pivotalconnection with the body of the figure and the lower end of whichextends loosely through a slot in a platform and is rigidly connected toa subjacent base block, and in which spring means press said base blockupwardly against said platform.

15. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the support comprises aplatform interrupted by an opening therein, a block subjacent saidplatform, resilient means mounting the block on said platform, themounting of the block allowing it to be depressed manually and saidresilient means serving to revert the block to normal position after alowering movement, a bar on said block extending upwardly through saidopening and forming the pivoted support for the figure-body, andarticulate legs pivoted on said body and arranged to be bent at kneejoints by contact with a playing surface when the block is depressed.

16. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the support comprises abar and a platform, said platform being provided with an openingtherein, a handled block subjacent said platform means resilientlyattaching said block to said platform, said resilient means permittingsaid block to be depressed, said bar upstanding from said block andpassing through said opening, the upper end of said bar forming thepivotal connection with the figure body, means providing a playingsurface having an elongated slot, means slidably supporting saidplatform subjacent said playing surface for movement axially of saidslot, and articulate legs pivoted on said body and normally resting onsaid playing surface.

17. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the body is providedwith articulate arms capable of being thrust outwardly from a pivotalaxis, and in which manual means is provided for manipulating said arms,said manual means comprising a lever extending from said pivotal axis, aflexible element connected to said lever and guided on the support formanual manipulation.

18. A toy figure boxing game of the kind described comprising asupporting structure providing a playing surface, having an elongatedslot; a pair of toy figures; a platform for each toy figure, each saidplatform being disposed below a slotted portion of said playing surface,guide means mounting each said platform slidably on said supportingstructure for movement axially of said slot, a handle extending fromeach said platform, a base block subjacent each said platform, springmeans adapted to press each base block upwardly against the respectiveplatform, and a vertically arranged bar upwardly extending from eachsaid base block and loosely projecting through a hole in the respectiveplatform, each said bar having an upper end attached to a toy figureaforesaid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,188,864 Webber June 27, 1916 1,266,765 Bouiford May 21, 1918 1,799,735Crowell Apr. 7, 1931 2,586,432 Land Feb. 19, 1952

